Cotabato bishop orders staff to submit papers on P1.4-M donation from PCSO

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo said on Wednesday night that he immediately ordered his staff to submit liquidation documents for the P1.4-million cash donation from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, upon being told that the new management of the PCSO had not received any liquidation from his office yet.

Quevedo told the Inquirer that he was not aware that the liquidation documents for the P1.4-million donation were not submitted to the PCSO. He said the cash was used to fund the charitable activities of the archdiocese’s social action office.

Reached by phone by the Inquirer during a break in the bishops’ retreat in Tagaytay City early Wednesday evening, Quevedo said “I was not aware that the amount was not yet liquidated.” he said in a phone interview.

He said the amount was used to buy a pick-up vehicle which the Cotabato archdiocese has been using in delivering relief goods and other forms of assistance to flood victims and families displaced by armed conflict in Maguindanao.

He said he did not request funds from the PCSO “for my personal use” as some reports have been suggesting.

When asked whether he would attend the Senate inquiry on the PCSO fund use controversy, Quevedo said, “I think it is no longer necessary.”

He said he already submitted written reports to the CBCP on the issue.

But he quickly added: “If the Senate really wanted me to attend, I will, there’s no problem with that.”